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Tax day just got worse

As Americans file their taxes today, we’re reminded of the GOP’s tax monstrosity and broken promises.

The Republican tax scam isn’t designed to help struggling, working families. It won’t help middle-income Americans or young people with crushing student loan debt.

But not everyone is feeling bad. In a nutshell, the richer you are, the more you benefit from the tax overhaul that was rammed through Congress. Republicans made sure that special interest donors and big corporations won out over hardworking Americans. In Oregon, this is the last year that you’ll be able to fully deduct your state income and property taxes – meaning a future tax hike for many Oregonians.

While the wealthiest 1% of Americans will see tens of thousands of dollars in tax cuts, the bottom 20% of earners will receive a personal income tax break of about $100. Really.

Rather than pad the coffers of the already very successful, Congress should be lifting people up, investing in education, healthcare, basic research, and our communities – helping us all achieve the American dream. Those investments will pay dividends for generations and give everyone a chance to get ahead.

And not to pile on, but the Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the tax scam will add $1.9 trillion to the deficit over the next decade to pay for the GOP’s tax giveaways. This is appalling fiscal hypocrisy coming from a party that claims to care about responsible budgeting.

This tax scam is a travesty and another example of the GOP’s misplaced priorities: the big over the small, the wealthy over the poor, and the haves over the have-nots.